From 13-Year-Old Anne’s Journal — December 16, 1982 – FAIR “This lady is going to die & Charles has to find a home for his (sic) kids. Continued tomorrow.” ____________________________________________________ From Tracy — WHAT A TEAR JERKER! This is a humdinger of a two-part episode. It’s really, really not fair of Landon to hit us right at the beginning with partially drowned puppies and then 15 mins in make us face the death of Patricia Neal. Yes that’s her with the velvet gravel voice. Some of you out there may know her better in Breakfast in Tiffanys as the hero’s er um “patron.” Here’s her best scene in that flick where she is a very epitome of a”stylish girl.” Her beauty and extreme...

From 13-Year-Old Anne’s Journal — December 15, 1982 – FAIR “Laura helps this old man who loves this dead woman. They fix up his house, etc. I don’t remember how it ends.” ____________________________________________________ From Anne — Yick! Obviously this episode did not hold Young Anne’s interest, with its faux scariness, psychological dreariness, and sneaky Christian proselytizing.This Victor French-directed missive is a total drag, from Nellie and Willie’s whiny chants, to the fakeness of Mr. Pike’s beard, to the stupid way that Laura skips home after leading Pike to Jesus like a goat to grass.Even as a kid I had allergic reactions to too much religiosity. This seems to be one in a variety of episodes in which Laura (aka...

From 13-Year-Old Anne’s Journal — December 14, 1982 – GOOD “The Ingalls & Olesons go on a camp out for collecting leaves. Laura & Nellie fall in the river & float down stream. They get out & Nellie blames Laura. Mary leads Willie to poison ivy & all the Olesons get it. Ha Ha.” ____________________________________________________ From Tracy — “There are no freakin’ mountains in Minnesota!!” I kept telling myself throughout this episode. I tried to let it go. “How could they not film the beauty of California?” I reminded myself. And “just enjoy the freakin’ show!” I chided. But it turns out I was wrong. Hoisted on my own petard! Little House may not be the most historically...